Next in Line
by Ilandere Okami
Summary: Light figures out a way to get more information on L, and inadvertently hires Matt to hack into L's detabase and such. Little does he know his actions' consequences. Finally, Matt is next in line to be L's successor. Slight MxM, language...one-shot


**Author's Note: I actually got this idea randomly ((yes, in the morning while still waking up)) and started writing it at school instead of reading the third volume of Fruits Basket ((I've finished the anime finally and now NEED the manga, which has even more Shigure…*drools*)). ^-^ **

**This takes place sometime between Light's birthday and Misa's entrance. So, think around March, early April ((yes, I looked it up in **_**How to Read**_**)). Also, I did look up the time zones and know that they are correct. When it's about 3, 4 PM in Japan, it's about 8, 9 AM in England. If there's anything to do w/ the dateline, shut up, I'm confused as it is by that shit.**

**So, without any further ado I give you a way to make Matt the hero. He solved it! …With the help of Mello…somewhat…not really…**

**Warnings: Uh…*spoiler for the end* character death, sexy-time with Matt and Mello 'cause L and Light could not have any relationship. It's really just you finding out they were sleeping in the same bed…naked…and something else and a kiss. Nothing much really, I'm afraid. **_**Also, there are conversations that switch POV in the middle, backtracking several lines of dialogue. Do not be confused.**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or its characters. I do, however, as far as I know, own the idea for the Black Pages, though not the Yellow Pages or the Black Market. I also don't own "Next in Line" by Meese, which I actually apply to Mello vs. Near, but thought it fit this story to a degree, actually for Light, but ((if you only look at the title)) it fits for Matty too.**

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Next in Line

Light sat at his desk with a glint in his eye. This was going to be too easy. It's amazing what one can overhear while at school. A mad smile spread across Kira's face as he turned his computer on.

"So…why're you so happy?" Ryuk tried again from behind the brilliant…and insane teenager. In the middle of the school day, all of a sudden, the human had jolted up and had gotten a crazy grin. It confused the hell out of Ryuk, but no amount of pestering broke Light down; he ignored the shinigami.

However, now Light was ready to start talking. While he waited for the computer to start up, he said, "You'd be surprised at what kinds of things college students need." He got on the internet and typed in a web address Ryuk couldn't see. There's an American phonebook company called Yellow Pages. Merge that with the worldwide Black Market and you get—"

"The Yellow Market?!" Ryuk practically screamed.

Light was ready to facepalm, but controlled himself. The webpage was done loading and he typed something into the sites' search engine. The page was black with the words "Black Pages" at the top, which Light said aloud right before pressing the Enter key.

* * *

Warm and cozy, a redhead was curled up with his blond lover in one of the beds in their shard dorm room. Matt sighed contently as he slowly woke up to Mello's soft breathing. He smiled and pulled the other closer, which earned a sigh from Mello, who, in turn, wrapped his arms around Matt even tighter.

But their bliss was short-lived when a loud, obnoxious beeping sounded from Matt's computer. Both groaned but Matt knew what kind of beeping that was, and couldn't ignore it. He slowly detangled himself from his boyfriend and left the warmth of their bed. As he was doing so, Mello complained, "Why do you have to do all this Black Market stuff? And so early in the morning?"

"It's fun," Matt replied. "And plus, by the time you become L, I'll have some connections you might want. I can put in a good word for you." He smiled his signature stupid grin and kissed Mello on the forehead before turning away. Before he could go, though, a slap rang around the room and a sharp stinging could be felt on his ass.

He whipped around to see a smirking Mello. "At least put on some boxers before answering this call, okay?" A Cheshire cat smile graced his angelic features.

Matt knew the caller wouldn't wait too long, so he stuck his tongue out at Mello and scrambled to find a random pair of underwear on the floor. While pulling on the garment, he pressed a few buttons on the computer. A navy screen popped up with a large full moon in the center. He pulled a headset over his head and spoke. "Yo."

* * *

Time ticked by as Light waited for this "Matt" guy to answer. But Kira was a patient man and could wait.

…As long as was needed…

"How fucking long is this going to take?" he exclaimed finally. Ryuk laughed at the blatant display of non-godliness. "Shut up!" he snapped.

Just then, a beep came from the computer and Light quickly looked back at it to see a grey screen with a digital-looking "M" in the center. In the background were small moving graphics of goggles,—which were hideous, in Light's opinion—video games and controllers, and cigarettes. A chocolate bar was in the bottom left hand corner and seemed to get small chunks bit out of it as the seconds went by. A clock, Light realized, a timer.

"Yo," a digitally scrambled voice said through his speakers.

Light smirked with glee. He hoped this would work. "You speak English?" he said in English, knowing he couldn't give any hints that he was Japanese. English was the first second language he learned, so he seemed almost like a native. And the rest of his accent that he couldn't control would disappear in the voice scrambler program he was using with his microphone.

"Yeah," was Matt's curt reply.

The naturally polite Light simmered a moment before continuing, "You may call me Moon."

"An alias?" Matt asked. Of course, it was an alias! Why would someone using the Black Market not use an alias? Before Light could retort, Matt spoke again, "Sorry, stupid question." Light could detect a bit of an English accent on the "sorry." This would be perfect blackmail, wouldn't it? He bet he could lower his fee by quite a lot by using this little fact.

There was some extra noise on the other end, what sound like another person, and a hissed, "Shut up," before Matt spoke again. "Alright, so what job do you want me to do? I'll do anything, even illegal stuff, to get a job done—as quickly and thoroughly as possible. But you already knew that, seeing as you're agreeing with my prices." Digital laughs sounded really bizarre to Light. Another strange sound, perhaps someone being hit upside the head.

This Matt guy really was weird. Curt, rude, blunt, and when you got him talking, he wouldn't shut up. But he was said to be brilliant at what he does, the best of the best.

Noticing the chocolate bar getting smaller, Light quickly got to the point. "I need you to hack into some computers and get me some information," he answered.

A short silence was followed by, "Yeah, no, duh." God, how old was this guy? He was acting like such a child! True, Light was only eighteen, but still, this was ridiculous.

"Fine, I'll make this short, sweet, and to the point. You know who L is?"

"The world's greatest detective? Yeah." Was that computerized snickering?

Light ignored it and went on, "I want you to hack into his database and other computers and get any and all information you can on him. "Got it?" He was reading to begin his maniacal laughter of doom once they ceased contact.

Several crashes were heard before Matt breathed out, "Got it." More sounds of someone talking. "When do you want it by?"

But Light answered with his own question. "Who's there with you?"

* * *

Dammit, this guy was asking for info on L? Was this the most ironic thing in the world or what? Mello had fallen out of his chair at the words—which he had heard through the headphones Matt had raised the volume up on.

"Do you think he's working for Kira?" Mello whispered, quickly recovering.

Matt shook his head, disbelieving. "When do you want it by?" he asked "Moon." The second they started the conversation, Matt had launched an undetectable tracer program of his own creation and design. It looked like a chocolate bar timer on the other end. He had to keep this person talking until the program came back with the information he needed to track down this "Moon."

But Moon didn't answer, instead questioning, "Who's there with you?" Damn, he could hear Mello. The guy was suspicious, could figure out that bit of information easily, and his wording of the question left no room for debate or doubt; Matt gave him credit.

"A business partner," Matt lied smoothly, practically smirking that it was actually close to the truth.

Moon didn't buy it. "His—or her—name?"

"Mello," Mello said for himself. Hell, it was an alias anyway, and Matt was using his. And he just wanted to play along with this probably-Kira's-minion's game. No way would he let his Matt lose.

Matt shot his boyfriend—and now business partner—a glare before getting back to the point. "Anyway, what's the deadline?"

"I thought you worked alone, Matt?" Moon interrupted. Oh, man, he was treading some pretty deep water.

"Assuming makes an ass out of you…" Mello spoke to Moon.

"And me," Moon finished mechanically.

"Precisely," came Mello's response. Matt almost started to crack up. Leave it to Mello to be able to get another person to insult himself.

Just then, an indication popped up, stating the program Matt had sent earlier finished its job.

An obviously fuming "Moon" quickly answered Matt's twice-voiced question. "We'll speak again a week from today, same time. Good-bye." And with that, the connection ended.

"I can't believe Kira would be so stupid as to use you to get the goods on L!" Mello laughed, thumping Matt on the back in his fun.

Matt shushed him and went to work finding where the signal had come from. "Japan, Kanto region," he said finally—though he'd yet to find the exact computer. That would take a little while longer.

Mello swirled around in the chair he was sitting backwards in with a blank look on his face, a chocolate bar handing from his mouth, which he snapped as he turned. "Seriously, you just figured that out? As soon as he started talking, I could detect the accent."

Ignoring the other's sarcasm, Matt asked, "Do you think I would be able to contact L right now?"

"With how busy he is with the Kira Case? No way," Mello scoffed.

The redhead just shrugged. "I guess I'll have to do this the hard way. Ha, Moon's getting what he wished for after all." He grinned stupidly once again and began working on his computer, fingers flying with rapid speed. Mello sighed and went to get breakfast as Matt worked.

L's database and system were connected—extremely indirectly, in such a way that only someone of Matt's caliber would be able to figure out—to Wammy's House. That just made it all the easier—and less fun—for Matt, who was used to hacking Wammy's database.

All Matt needed, though, were the files on the Kira Case. He tried to get them as quickly and secretly as possible, but he was sure L discovered the minor breach. Nevertheless, the man also knew his successor's style and let him go.

When Mello got back, a few slices of cold bacon in his hand…which he threw Matt's way, the hacker was grinning and nodding, looking as he did when he figured out the puzzle in a video game and was about to face his final battle. Mello smiled too.

* * *

When Light finished his conversation, he all but screamed, barely able to keep his mask up. But Kira was going to get information on L—maybe his name!—and that was just pure giddiness that filled him.

The week passed without incident, L having come to classes once or twice. Light and his mask acted no differently than normal and didn't arouse any more suspicion that usual from the detective. He also "helped" slightly at the headquarters, too.

When the time came, Light got home at the same time as usual and went straight to his computer. As he reached for the power button, it turned on by itself. Light jumped back but quickly realized what had happened. "Show off," he muttered. Ryuk chuckled behind him.

The computer started up quickly and immediately went to the "M" screen he had talked to a week before. He didn't even notice his webcam was on, or his voice distorter disabled as he spoke.

"You did what I asked for?"

"Yeah," was the quick reply. He smirked, pleased with himself. "But I couldn't get any real info on L." What?! He leaned forward, angry, but refused to let that show in words Matt could hear.

"Then what did you get?" he questioned with false calmness.

A chuckle and then, "I figured out who Kira is, with undeniable proof."

Light's eyes widened slightly in fear before his mask returned. He leaned back and raised an eyebrow, though he knew (thought) all social interactions were lost in this conversation. Just then, his eyes glanced to where the chocolate bar timer had been. It wasn't there. "Really? And who, dare I ask, is Kira?"

There was a long pause before a monotonous voice Light had grown used to hearing said through his speakers, "You, Yagami Light." The screen switched to the camera's point of view and Light could see the shock and fear in his own paling face.

"Raito, Tsuki, Moon…and I tracked you down during our last convo," a new voice said. He sounded a few years younger than Light, just going through puberty.

"Matt-kun and Mello-kun are two of my successors, Light-kun," L explained. Kira withheld the urge to facepalm once more. "And, as L, I hereby arrest you, Light Yagami, under the accusation as Kira with undeniable proof."

The door burst open, his window crashed in, and men in dark masked helmets stormed in. Light struggled as the men tried to restrain him. "I'm Kira! I'm justice! I'm the god of this world! Get your hands off me! L, don't you realize the good I was trying to accomplish?! Yarg!"

Through his shouts, Light heard Ryuk say, "As much fun as it would be to watch you go even more insane in jail, I did tell you I'd be the one to write your name down."

About a minute later, a shock went through Light's body, but by then, his hands were cuffed behind his back. He couldn't clutch at his throbbing heart, couldn't scream in pure unending pain, couldn't stop the pounding of blood through his veins as his heart made its last attempt before coming to a screeching halt.

"Kira-kun! Light-kun!" L had called out, the last sound Light heard as his world was engulfed in infinite darkness.

Fin…for Light Yagami…

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**Author's Notes: I enjoyed writing that ending. When I realized Light was going to be caught, I also realized the only logical answer would be for Ryuk to kill him. I didn't even debate it in my head, but made a split-second decision and decided for this ending. I also realized he wouldn't come quietly. Now **_**that**_** was fun to write. Oh, and just like in the anime, his final thoughts were of L…*sigh* ((And did you know that your hearing is your last sense you lose before you die? That's why it was L's shouts that Light heard. ^_-))**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Finally, Matt gets a chance to beat Kira. Finally, Light was stupid and…wait, he was always stupid. Haha, anyways, please review with what you think. This was written within two days, just saying. And most of it at school! ((Part at home, but then I realized it was almost ten PM and I had to do homework. *Sweatdrop*))**


End file.
